On a hot and humid day, June 28, 1778, 46-year-old General George Washington and his Continental Army attacked General Sir Henry Clinton’s British Army, as the “Red Coats” were retreating across Monmouth County from Philadelphia toward Sandy Hook.
The Battle of Monmouth was pivotal to the American Revolution. It was the biggest and longest one-day battle of the Revolutionary War. However, Monmouth County’s story is more than that. It’s a story of families and loyalties divided. It’s a story of men and women from different backgrounds attempting to navigate tumultuous and uncertain times. It’s a story of strife and skirmish over many years of the revolution that pitted neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, mothers and daughters against fathers and sons. Those loyal to “the crown” organized and worked in concert against the cause of freedom for the colonies more than in any other county in New Jersey.
Monmouth County was truly a battleground in the cause of freedom, and when the war had been won, its people gave themselves over to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, commerce, and industry.